Jean Chatzky Quotes

You settled a debt instead of paying in full will stay on your credit report for as long as the individual accounts are reported, which is typically seven years from the date that the account was settled. Unlike with bankruptcy, there isn't a separate line on your credit report dedicated to debt settlement, so each account settled will be listed as a charge-off.

You fall a bit behind on a credit card bill, your interest rate soars, your minimum payment rises, and you start falling more and more behind every month. You don't see an end. But you don't want to file bankruptcy either. What you can do - and should do - is negotiate.

I'm very interested in the more grass-roots consequences of the economic meltdown: issues related to mortgage foreclosures, debt collection, and the practices of credit card companies and others who hold a lot of consumer debt.

'Credit' is another word for trustworthiness.

My credit card company says I have an outstanding balance. I'm flattered.

I don't like credit cards. Let me triple underline that.

Once you get into debt, it’s hell to get out. Don’t let credit card debt carry over. You can’t get ahead paying eighteen percent.

Take the cards out of your wallet. A debit card is accepted just about everywhere that credit cards are, and you'll be spending money you have - always a good thing.

You can pretty much trace when the big individual indebtedness kicked in, and it was when the credit card became generally available.

Don't let the fact that you're spending time getting organized result in late fees on your credit card bills.

A man with a credit card is in hock to his own image of himself.

Stop spending money you don't have.

Morality aside, there are other factors deterring 'strategic defaults,' whether in recourse or nonrecourse states. These include the economic and emotional costs of giving up one's home and moving, the perceived social stigma of defaulting, and a serious hit to a borrower's credit rating.

I'm the king of debt.

Remember this: debt is a form of bondage. It is a financial termite.

I don't believe in credit or loans.

I have too many debts with the wrong people.

Unfortunately we were living beyond our means. I didn't do the bills, I didn't have any idea what our financial situation was. We had the cars, the boat, the motorcycles and the houses. I didn't even know. And then when we got a divorce there wasn't a lot of money to split up and what there was, was spent on the divorce. It was really difficult.

Because the American credit reporting system relies on both good and bad reports of creditworthiness, a consumer must have some kind of credit - not just the absence of bad credit.

When you get to college, they're never teaching you how to start a credit line or get a loan on a car, things of that nature.

You really don't need to hire a debt settlement company to negotiate with your creditors.

A credit card is a convenient device that saves you the trouble of counting your change.

Under the old system - which is now so archaic that a lot of people can't remember it - if you wanted money you had to go to the bank and take the money out in cash form, and you couldn't take out money that you didn't have. But with the credit card you can spend money you don't have, and that is just so tempting.

But credit card debt is unsecured debt, which means if you get in trouble and cannot pay off your credit card, you can discharge it in bankruptcy. What are they going do to you? If you're in a financial position to just methodically pay off both credit card and student loans, pay them all.

Why can't everything be as easy as walking into H&M and putting a week's worth of clothes on a credit card?